The President of CIES is Dr. William Schlesinger.
His email is schlesingerw@ecostudies.org.
Board of Trustees:
Mr. Edward A. Ames, Secretary
New York, New York
Trustee, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust; Chairman of the Board, Hudson River Foundation; Member of the Governing Council, The Wilderness Society; Member of the Board, Open Space Institute; Member of the Board, Wave Hill
Mr. Steven M. Benardete
Amenia, New York
Board of Directors, Dutchess Land Conservancy; Board of Directors, Foundation for Community Health, Sharon, Connecticut
Dr. Stephen R. Carpenter
Madison, Wisconsin
Stephen Alfred Forbes Professor of Zoology, University of Wisconsin; Member, National Academy of Sciences; Board of Directors, Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics; Co-Editor-in-Chief, “Ecosystems”
Dr. Sallie W. Chisholm
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lee and Geraldine Martín, Professor of Environmental Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Member, National Academy of Sciences; Director, The Earth System Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mr. Charles H. Collins, Treasurer
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Managing Director, The Forestland Group LLC; Director, Orvis/Cushman Wakefield; Director, World Forestry Center; Director, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership; Director, Great Mountain Forest Corporation; External Advisory Board, Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, Yale University
Mr. Geoffrey W. Dann
New York, New York
Investment Advisor and Vice President, Lingold Associates LLC
Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo, Vice Chair
Stanford, California
Bing Professor in Environmental Science; Member, National Academy of Sciences
Mr. Bradford S. Gentry
New Haven, Connecticut
Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Of Counsel, Baker & McKenzie; Co-Director, Center for Business and the Environment at Yale; New England Advisory Committee, Trust for Public Land; Advisory Committee, Climate Change Capital; Long Range Planning Committee, Adirondack League Club
Mr. Lionel Goldfrank III
New York, New York
Board of Managers, The New York Botanical Garden
Mrs. Anne A. Hubbard
Bronxville, New York
Board of Managers, The New York Botanical Garden
Mrs. Edith W. Kean
New York, New York
Board of Managers, The New York Botanical Garden; Vice Chair, Friends of the High School for Environmental Studies; Advisory Committee, Trust for Public Land
Ms. Gretchen Long, Past Chair & Honorary Trustee
Wilson, Wyoming
Trustee Emeritus, National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, DC; Board of Directors, The Land Trust Alliance, Washington, DC; Board of Directors, Scenic Hudson, Inc., Poughkeepsie, NY; Honorary Director, The Murie Center, Moose, WY; Board of Trustees, World Resources Institute
Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy
Washington, D.C.
President, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; Research Associate, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Board of Managers, The New York Botanical Garden; Member of the Board, Woods Hole Research Center; Member of the Board, American Museum of Natural History; Member of the Board, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; Chairman of the External Advisory Board, Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies
Dr. Carolyn O. Mattoon, Vice Chair
Sharon, Connecticut
Trustee, Cityterm
Mr. Robert Quinlan
New York, New York
President, Quinlan Development Group LLC
Dr. Paul G. Risser, Chair
Norman, Oklahoma
Chair and Chief Operating Officer, University of Oklahoma Research Cabinet; Acting Director of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum; Board of Directors, Sand County Foundation; Chairman, National Advisory Board, Long-Term Ecological Research Program, National Science Foundation; Board of Directors, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Mr. John E. Rorer
New Rochelle, New York
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, American Museum of Natural History; Chairman of the Board, Collegiate Church of New York City
Dr. William H. Schlesinger, President
Millbrook, New York
President, Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Member, National Academy of Sciences
Mrs. Elizabeth Farran Tozer
New York, New York
Member of the Board: Millbrook Golf and Tennis Club; Museum of the City of New York; National Academy of Design; New York Foundation of Senior Citizens; Ohio Wesleyan University; Utah Opera and Symphony; Preservation League of New York State; Ross Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University; Sundance Institute; The Park City Historical Society and Museum; School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center; Advisory Board, Park Cit, Utah
Mrs. Julia Harte Widdowson
Millbrook, New York
Board of Trustees, American Farmland Trust; Board of Trustees, The Orion Society; Board of Trustees, International Council for the musée des arts décoratifs
15 responses so far ↓
1 Dency Kane, Garden Photographer // Nov 11, 2007 at 12:22 am
Yes, please add my name to the Save the Gifford Garden if you think it would help. Thank You.
2 Gail Bishop, Landscape Architect, Redding, CT // Nov 12, 2007 at 10:12 am
Hello Duncan,
Wow - how wonderful to be involved in such a cause!
It is thoroughly incredulous the mere notion of removing these invaluable gardens which further the story of the lifestyle within the house…
Many communities are now realizing the value and ADDING such enrichments…strange to hear of a famous one going AGAINST the tide.
Perhaps Endowements, and Named Gifts (of Benches, or original plant material needing replacement…) in Memory of loved ones is already being done??
Have you sent this plea to all Garden Conservancy members, NYBG, and UConn, etc??
Please add my name to the list; I will forward this on to my contacts!
Best regards,
Gail
Thunder Hill Designs
3 Jennifer Benner // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:15 am
Dear Duncan,
Thank you for building awareness. Gardens are truly invaluable living laboratories and educational tools. I hope IES comes to realize this as well. Please add my name to your cause if you feel it will help.
Best regards,
Jennifer Benner
Associate Editor, Fine Gardening
4 Duncan Brine // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:22 am
Dency, Gail and Jennifer–Thanks for joining the Gifford Garden advocates.
We’re a group of designers, photographers, writers, and others concerned about the garden’s fate.
5 Caroline Burgess // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:02 pm
The Gifford Garden has been an important study destination for all of us at Stonecrop Gardens, and we visit several times each year with our interns. The garden is educational; it is well designed and labeled, and the plant collection is diverse. The demise of the Gifford Garden will be a great loss for Hudson Valley horticulture.
6 Duncan Brine // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Caroline–
Your words will be memorable for the many gardeners at Gifford Garden, both staff and volunteer, especially because Stonecrop is widely regarded as one of the most exemplary gardens in the country.
7 constance duhamel // Nov 29, 2007 at 6:21 pm
visiting the gardens, attending classes, finding the perfect gift and anticipating the plant sales were wonderful experiences for us and our friends. the welcoming grounds were a way to let the communities in dutchess, putnam and columbia counties know of your work. i hope the new board finds some way to keep them open to us.
8 Joan Lee Faust // Dec 24, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Although it has been a few years since visitng the
IES….I’m appalled that it would even think of eliminating such a beautiful, educational part of this prestigious Institute. For the modest savings the garden’s destruction would provide, don’t the powers that be realize there are some facets to our our humanity that should be nurtured?
Former Garden Editor, The New York Times
9 Duncan Brine // Dec 25, 2007 at 5:18 am
Joan Lee Faust, your eloquence honors Gifford Garden. Unless actions are swiftly taken to Save Gifford Garden, your comment will be its obituary.
10 judy rife // Jan 13, 2008 at 9:09 am
i consider the plant sale an obligation and a pilgrimage - and i drag other gardeners with me from orange county - to see and support the place where i began my journey as a gardener - with a seminar taught by mary ann mcgourty many years ago. i can’t imagine the trustees severing ties to the public at a time when environmental awareness is growing by leaps and bounds. please add my name to the petition and thank you for leading the good fight.
11 Heronswood Voice » Garden, What Garden? // Jan 22, 2008 at 3:08 pm
There is a post to read about the controversy over Gifford Garden on Heronswood Voice, written by the man who bought Heronswood Nursery.
12 Sandra Reilly // Feb 24, 2008 at 9:03 am
Although it’s been many years since I lived in Dutchess County, the Gifford Gardens were a very important part of my gardening education. I worked at the Gifford House both as a volunteer and paid employee when they were selling plants on the porch. The gardens are truly a unique part of Millbrook and should be saved. Please keep me informed of any progress made in saving them. Sandra Reilly in Vermont
13 Gillian Creelman // May 11, 2008 at 7:20 pm
My memories of the Gifford House and Garden go back a long way and although I live in Maine now, I look forward to a walk through it whenever I return.
I can not believe that a man of science could be so soulless as to destroy the thing that his work is trying to preserve: the beauty and very existence of this planet. This beautiful and inspiring garden gives us the kind of education we need to garden in the right way in our own spaces.
14 Duncan Brine // May 12, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Public Gardens, what public gardens?
This spring, before it is warm, before blossoms issue their fragrance, before objections can be voiced or heard, long-appreciated gardens are going or gone. Gifford Garden, Duke Gardens, and The Mount are at risk or have succumbed. How much more will we and our children lose of the greatness and fineness of our heritage before the damage is realized and regretted?
15 Eve Howard // Jul 4, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Living on the west coast with the amazing natural beauty has been a treasure but the northeast along the Hudson is equally splendid particularly for its gardens, houses and history. Can’t imagine
not supporting care and keep of a garden due to the small amount of money it would save in this case. Please reconsider the decision and let the public know how we can help provide ideas for another solution to support the financial need.
Leave a Comment